[Sayo leans into the touch, almost nuzzling it in an unconscious imitation of how Himiko rubbed her face against Sayo's cheek sometimes. It's not just the tight hugs and loose sprawls that made Himiko almost seem like a particularly floppy cat that get Sayo, it's the small touches like this, the constant affirmations that she was here, here and she wanted to stay. (Himiko can feel Sayo's cheek warming up, more blood rushing to pool beneath her skin.)]
Hehe... thanks. I'm not used to people listening as closely as you do. [If Sayo knew that Himiko wasn't really interested in mysteries but wanted to learn so she could see more of Sayo's heart, no force on this earth or any other would stop her from making out with her right there and then. But there's still enough plausible deniability, enough nagging thoughts like, "Himiko-chan's like this with everyone" and "I always read too much into things" to keep the barest distance for now.]
...I didn't have much company when I was younger, but... trying to solve a mystery made me feel like I was playing a game with the author. Trading moves back and forth across time and space, trying to discover the culprit while they threw red herrings and clues at me to decipher... I know it sounds, um, weird, but reading mystery novels made me feel like someone out there was trying to understand me as much as I was trying to understand them. I... treasured that feeling.
Especially since I never found it anywhere else. [She laughs awkwardly.] So, er, no. This is the first time I've ever read with someone. Not many other people I knew understood that, and even the ones who did, I... couldn't get close to them, or only saw them occasionally, so we never did. Uh. This.
[She holds Himiko closer to illustrate her point.]
It's... nice. It's really, really, really nice. [Saying "really" three times instead of bursting into elegant metaphors about the sun or whatever is both a sign of how flustered Sayo is and how much she needed the company of someone like Himiko, someone who gave her this comfort without having to separate herself from any pain that came with it through layers of metaphor and symbolism.]
no subject
Hehe... thanks. I'm not used to people listening as closely as you do. [If Sayo knew that Himiko wasn't really interested in mysteries but wanted to learn so she could see more of Sayo's heart, no force on this earth or any other would stop her from making out with her right there and then. But there's still enough plausible deniability, enough nagging thoughts like, "Himiko-chan's like this with everyone" and "I always read too much into things" to keep the barest distance for now.]
...I didn't have much company when I was younger, but... trying to solve a mystery made me feel like I was playing a game with the author. Trading moves back and forth across time and space, trying to discover the culprit while they threw red herrings and clues at me to decipher... I know it sounds, um, weird, but reading mystery novels made me feel like someone out there was trying to understand me as much as I was trying to understand them. I... treasured that feeling.
Especially since I never found it anywhere else. [She laughs awkwardly.] So, er, no. This is the first time I've ever read with someone. Not many other people I knew understood that, and even the ones who did, I... couldn't get close to them, or only saw them occasionally, so we never did. Uh. This.
[She holds Himiko closer to illustrate her point.]
It's... nice. It's really, really, really nice. [Saying "really" three times instead of bursting into elegant metaphors about the sun or whatever is both a sign of how flustered Sayo is and how much she needed the company of someone like Himiko, someone who gave her this comfort without having to separate herself from any pain that came with it through layers of metaphor and symbolism.]
Thank you, Himiko-chan.